Beloved Indian Guru’s Health Worsens

The health of one of India’s most renowned living spiritual leaders, Sathya Sai Baba, who commands a following of millions both in India and abroad, has been in the news ever since he was hospitalized in late March with heart and breathing problems. On Thursday, doctors treating him said his condition was very serious.

Mustafa Quraishi/Associated Press

Sathya Sai Baba at a function to meet his devotees in New Delhi in April last year.

The 85-year old Hindu mystic, known for his apparent miracles and his bushy head of curly hair, is in a hospital funded by his organization in the town of Puttaparthi in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. A medical bulletin posted on the hospital Web site early Thursday morning said his breathing is still dependent on ventilator and that dialysis had been started to assist his kidneys.

“All the organs are showing very poor response to the treatment. Non-functioning of the liver and persistent episodes of low blood pressure are causing great worry to the doctors,” the hospital statement on Sathya Sai Baba’s health said.

However, hospital director A.N. Safaya played down the seriousness of the situation in an interview later in the morning. Mr. Safaya told India Real Time that the guru’s level of consciousness had “considerably improved” and that his vital systems were stable.

“A panel of doctors is watching him round-the-clock and putting their best efforts to improve his clinical condition,” Mr. Safaya said.

Hospital attendant Raja M. said hundreds of anxious devotees had gathered outside the hospital and prayer meetings are being held across the town for the guru’s recovery. Extra police have been posted around the hospital.

“Fearing a rush of devotees, we have deployed additional police forces and set up more checkposts near the hospital to prevent any untoward incident,” Shahnawaz Qasim, superintendent of police in Andhra Pradesh told India Real Time.

Mr. Qasim said he was also concerned that unrest could be triggered if there is a succession battle to control the organization named after Sathya Sai Baba.

Sathya Sai Baba has claimed to be the re-embodiment of the great 19th-century spiritual guru, Sai Baba of Shirdi, who was from the western state of Maharashtra and whose teachings were a combination of Hindu and Muslim beliefs. Sai Baba of Shirdi, who lived an extremely simple and austere life, died in 1918.

According to his Web site, Sathya Sai Baba renounced the world at age 14, left home and began traveling around south India, acquiring a following along the way. He set up his ashram in Puttaparthi at the age of 24, and devotees from different Indian states and abroad began to converge there. A million people attended his 70th birthday celebrations in 1995.

Sathya Sai Baba is believed by his followers to be an avatar of God in human form. He has also impressed devotees by recounting his memories of past lives. The saffron-robed guru, according to his Web site, has won acclaim for his work in education and health. His hospitals also claim to have cured ailments that could not be treated by conventional medicine.

Puttaparthi, a non-descript tiny town with an approximate population of 10,000 in a backward district of southern state of Andhra Pradesh, has shot to fame and prosperity after visits by thousands of devotees from India and abroad.

Now, the town has lots of hotels and luxury resorts, restaurants that serve Italian, French, Tibetan and Chinese food for the convenience of foreign devotees and shops that sell Indian handicrafts and souvenirs of him.

His influence among the Indian elite is noteworthy. Among his devotees are former Indian prime ministers, judges and generals, top businessmen and cricketers.

P.P. Nayar, a doctor based in the south Indian state of Kerala, has been a follower of Sathya Sai Baba for the last 30 years.

“I am impressed by his great contribution in the field of medicine,” said Mr. Nayar, who has offered his services in free medical camps for the poor set up by the Sathya Sai Baba’s foundation

However the guru has also seen his share of controversies

In a BBC report in 2004, former followers accused Sathya Sai Baba of sexual abuse and dismissed his miracles as a sham. Sathya Sai Baba has denied the allegations.

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